Problem: Vanessa buys a basket of bananas on sale for $\$18$ before tax. The sales tax is $18\%$. What is the total price Vanessa pays for the basket of bananas? (Round to the nearest hundredth or cent.)
Explanation: In order to find the total price, first find the amount of sales tax paid by multiplying the sales tax by the original price of the basket of bananas. ${18\%} \times {$18} =$ Percent means "out of one hundred," so $18\%$ is equivalent to $\frac{18}{100}$ which is also equal to $18 \div 100$ $18 \div 100 = 0.18$ Multiply the sales tax you just converted into a decimal by the original price to find the amount of sales tax that must be paid. ${0.18} \times {$18} = {$3.24}$ Add the sales tax you just found to the original price to find the final price Vanessa paid. ${$3.24} + {$18.00} = $21.24$ Vanessa needs to pay $$21.24.$